


A Different Kind of Huntress

by Awesomejelo



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23304988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesomejelo/pseuds/Awesomejelo
Summary: After being attacked by a Grimm Ruby is introduced to another whole world of supernatural. With her sister Yang she fights to keep people safe from Beowolves, Vampires, Wraiths, and whatever else may threaten the innocent.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Ruby let out a groan as she plopped down on a bench. She had thought that the Museum of Vale would give her some kind of inspiration, but she was still lost, all it had was dinosaurs and old timey weapons.

While those would normally be cool, they did not help her currently. She had graduated from high school two months ago and still did not know what career she wanted. Everyone else had it figured it out, but nothing seemed right for her. She was good at engineering, but for some reason that didn’t feel right. There was just something missing.

So for two months she sat around the house trying to “find herself” as her dad put it. She did projects to stay busy and ventured out trying different things, the closest she got to feeling right was writing which felt more of a hobby than a job.

Tired of always sitting around, she wandered into the medieval section passing swords and banners from centuries old Europe. Plaques and diagrams showed wars of old and their effects on the people that lived at the time.

To make things worse Ruby was sure her dad was somewhat disappointed that she hadn’t found anything yet, although he’d never outright say it. He was completely supportive of her and always said she’d do great things. But so far she hadn’t done any things!

That’s why she was here hoping to get something, anything. Maybe a historian or teacher, maybe someone that dug up fossils, she didn’t know. But again she found nothing, just her own grumpy face in a silver shield paired with a spear.

“Maybe I could be an actress, Yang always said I was dramatic,” she said to herself.

At least Yang knew where she belonged, being a personal trainer in Vale. She had an apartment and everything there so she didn’t have to commute from Patch every day. She even would be called to other cities for a couple days at a time for some more high paying customers to help them in their homes. Dad had freaked over that one, but had calmed down when he learned she’d always have a partner with her, and hers was a girl named Pyrrha Nikos who definitely looked like a personal trainer. The two of them could handle themselves.

And that still didn’t help her. Stupid brain not focusing. Maybe she shouldn’t be too hard on it, it didn’t even know what to focus on.

Ruby jumped in surprise as screams and crashing sounded out through the museum. Maybe a fire had started. Not dwelling on the reason she knew that the building wasn’t safe anymore. She ran in the general direction everyone else was, trying to find a fire exit. She was sure everything would be alright, they made these places so that there was always a safe way out, right?

She passed all kinds of old swords and guns as she sprinted through the medieval and Vale’s history sections. An alarm blared loudly, pounding against her ears while her feet pounded the ground. Fear drove her to great speeds trying to get away.

Seeing a large red exit sign Ruby had found her escape. Elation filled her head and carried her to safety. She was almost there when a cry for help came from behind her. 

Ruby didn’t know what came over her but she stopped. 

She knew she was just a girl. She didn’t know anything about saving people, she even knew running back into a burning building would more than likely only put two people in danger. But for once she knew something, she couldn’t run away when someone needed help.

Running back into the museum Ruby tried to find the source of the voice.

“Hello! I’m trying to help! Where are you?” she yelled into the dark room that was only illuminated by emergency lights now.

No response came, there weren’t any alarms going off anymore, either. Ruby leaned against a sword display to catch her breath.

Something was wrong. A primal sense similar to how you knew not to stand on a cliff’s edge. Ruby scanned the room looking for something, anything. There wasn’t a fire, there hadn’t been any gunshots, nothing that told her what made those people scream.

A growl came from behind her, and only instincts throwing herself aside saved Ruby. Something large crashed into the sword display shattering the glass and sending the blades flying. Ruby picked herself up off the ground the same time it did.

Both of them locked eyes, neither moving as they sized each other up. Or, more likely one studied its prey and the other was rooted to the spot. The beast had the shape of a wolf or dog, but its limbs were much too long, letting it tower over Ruby. Even more intimidating was its unnaturally black coat and what seemed to be bone plates with red etchings covering it at several points.

Doing what came naturally Ruby ran as soon as her senses returned. The beast gave chase, digging its claws into the floor as it ran. While Ruby was fast in her own right due to years of track, her legs couldn’t outpace those that were twice as long.

Another roar came from behind her and she again dove to the side.

Once more the beast overshot its mark and crashed, this time into a suit of armor, causing the steel plating to clatter loudly. Through the haze of adrenaline Ruby’s mind flashed an idea. It was dangerous and deadly if it didn’t work but she knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid it forever. Flight was not an option.

Pushing herself off the floor with all her strength she dashed for the first display that had been destroyed. Sliding into it she ignored the small cuts from the glass. Hearing the telltale growl she scrambled through the debris, grasping one of the swords.

Turning around she thrust it out in front of her, hoping against all expectations.

And those expectations were met. The sword failed to pierce the beast’s hide and was jarred out of Ruby’s hands as she was slammed into the ground, pinned underneath a wall of black fur.

The wind was knocked out of Ruby, but so was the monster after being jabbed in the chest despite not drawing blood. Thanking whoever might be looking over her Ruby saw a shield to her left. She grabbed for it in the moment that the beast was stunned, and she held it in front of her.

Seeing it was not injured once it recovered a clawed hand descended aimed at her neck. Ruby held the shield in front of her face, again expecting the worst.

Grunting as her arm absorbed the blow, she held firm. She didn’t know how she was doing it, but the girl who asked her dad to move anything too heavy was holding back something the size of a bear.

Trying her luck she pushed back, and with a great heave it was thrown off.

Scrambling to her feet Ruby looked through the rest of the ruined display and picked up a nearby spear. As hundreds of pounds of hatred studied her for the second time she noticed that the shield and spear matched. If the shield let her throw it off and the spear somehow was the same she might just have a fighting chance.

Finishing its study the creature shifted tactics and charged instead, staying close to the ground and running with all four limbs.

This still left it at Ruby’s shoulder height. She held the shield out in front of her and turned to the side the moment it made contact. Her arm strained, but the beast was deflected aside.

When it regained control of its momentum the beast charged again, which Ruby again deflected, much to the protest of her arm.

Again and again the beast charged her before being pushed aside with more and more effort each time. While this happened Ruby frantically tried to think of a plan. The monster didn’t seem to learn quickly, but it would adapt when an attack failed, so she had to make this count or it would just change tactics again. She wasn’t able to counter-attack because of how quickly it charged, but she could move a small distance in between passes.

Seeing a possibility Ruby shuffled to the side on each attack. When she was finally in position she shoved the armored monster as it made yet another pass, its momentum carrying it into an antique loom. Caught in the wooden supports and woven threads it couldn’t move. 

Ruby rushed at it and thrust the spear into its chest. Giving a final pained roar the beast flailed in its tangled prison before finally going limp and dissolving into a strange black smoke, drifting off into nothingness.

Dropping to her knees Ruby let go of her weapons, letting them clatter to the ground. Trying to catch her breath she tried to process what had happened. 

She’d ran back into a building that she thought was on fire to save someone, found a monster instead, and killed it with a pointy metal stick.

“I’m going crazy aren’t I?” she asked of no one in particular.

“That remains to be seen.”

Ruby snatched up the spear again and pointed it at the source of the new voice. 

A man dressed in green held up his hands in a placating gesture, “I don’t mean you any harm, in fact if I had been here earlier you would not have had to experience what you did.”

Ruby did not lower her weapon. The monster had come from seemingly nowhere and this man only showed up once it was gone, also seemingly from nowhere. 

“You know what that thing was?” she asked.

“I do,” he slowly lowered one of his arms to use his cane, “Are you harmed?”

“No, but someone screamed. That’s why I came back here.”

The man gave a small smile, “That is fortunate then. I followed this Grimm’s path of destruction here and no one had come to harm

“A Grimm?” Ruby’s brow furrowed at the term. 

“They are an embodiment of negative emotions and one of the many things that threaten the lives of ordinary men and women,” His face remained completely calm through his explanation.

Ruby lowered her spear slightly to the side. “Who are you?”

“A man that tries to protect the lives of ordinary men and women. My name though is Ozpin, might I ask yours?” 

“Ruby,” she said quickly.

“Well Ruby, it is rather impressive that someone untrained would be able to defeat a grimm, most would not realize they are largely immune to anything not made of silver. But it seems you were able to figure out its fatal weakness.”

Ruby looked down at the spear, still clenched in her hand. Silver metal glinted in the emergency lighting. Not a single speck of blood, aside from her own, covered it.

“If I may Miss Ruby, I’d like to offer you a chance to help protect others from Grimm and other creatures,” he said, “It is uncommon to find one such as yourself that possesses the raw talent to defend themselves from the supernatural.”

A part of Ruby jumped at the idea that someone had found her skilled enough to offer that kind of opportunity, but another warned that she knew nothing about him or what he really wanted.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

As an answer he pulled two business cards from his suit and offered them with an outstretched hand. “One of these cards is an address that if you arrive tomorrow I can explain everything. The other is for someone that can help you forget and rationalize what you saw today.”

After hesitating half a moment Ruby took both of them, “Wasn’t that in a movie once?”

“So it was,” Ozpin chuckled, “But it serves its purpose. You should head home though. If you go down that hallway there’s a door on the right where you can leave without having to answer any questions.”

She looked in the direction he was pointing seeing a crack of light seeping into the museum and illuminating the destruction within.

“What will you do about this?” she asked, gesturing to the destroyed room around them.

“My job. Part of it is explaining things, I think today a wild animal would work.”

A small chuckle escaped her lips as she started to leave. She’d have to think on Ozpin’s offer, but for now she had stopped a Grimm from killing anyone, including herself. It was a good day, especially if it meant a direction moving forward, and not dying. 

“Miss Ruby?” Ozpin called from behind her, “Leave the spear?”

* * *

Later that night Ozpin sat in his office going over the reports of the day and drinking his coffee. He was somewhat disappointed that he had been unable to see any action today. Normally ne was locked to his seat handling paperwork, but he had been on a break when reports came in that a Beowolf was in the local museum. Imagine his surprise when he arrived to find that a girl had killed it.

And that was the reason he was only somewhat disappointed, overall he felt rather joyful. They were always looking for new members and Ruby fit the bill perfectly. There was only one problem.

A knock came on his door.

“Come in,” he said.

Practically ripping the door open Yang Xiao Long stormed into his office, her eyes a dark red and hands clenched tight.

“You can’t do this,” Yang demanded, placing both hands on his desk with a noticeable thump.

“She’s a perfect huntress. Resourceful, quick thinking, empathetic, everything she showed on that security clip was nothing short of heroic. And she’s more ready than even you were, Miss Xiao Long.”

“When I was ready you promised my family would be safe,” Yang said, quietly dropping her head, “This is the complete opposite of that.”

Ozpin set his drink down.

“I know. This is why I gave her both cards, she has an option to get out and another to understand. You know well how not knowing can drive someone to seek knowledge through the wrong ways, if we deny her she could head down one of those darker paths.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Sit back and watch her throw herself into danger?”

“Of course not. I want you to be her partner.”

Yang picked up her head, staring incredulously at the older man.  
“What about Pyrrha?”

“Miss Nikos can accompany you on missions until we find another position for her,” He explained, “The bond of family is invaluable in our work. This way would also allow you to watch Ruby while she learns, as well as having another accomplished huntress accompanying you.”

“This still isn’t what we agreed on,” Yang pressed.

“I know. And if today’s events were different our agreement would hold. However your sister now knows about our world. Because of that I can offer her a place among us, or assistance in understanding what she experienced. Or I could have done nothing, leaving her confused and without explanation. This third option neither of us truly know what the outcome would be, but I cannot imagine Miss Rose to come out the better for it.”

The moving of gears in Yang’s head were almost audible as she glared at Ozpin, “Fine. But if anything goes wrong, you're the one to blame.”

Whipping around Yang stormed out almost as quickly as she entered, closing the door with just enough force it almost slammed.

“I hold myself accountable every day Miss Xiao Long...”


	2. Chapter 2

Feeling like she had just ran the state championship for track and field again Ruby walked up the walkway to her house. After making her way out of the museum she’d gone to the nearest bus stop and caught a ride home.

The sun was starting to set when they came to her stop. Getting off the bus her bike was where she’d left it locked, taking that off and turning on the lights she pedaled the rest of the way home.

As soon as she opened the door her dad wrapped her in a big hug.

“Thank God you’re ok Ruby, I was so worried.”

Pushing away from his vice like grip Ruby could see the worry etched on his face. He couldn’t know about that, that thing. There was no way since he’d been at work all day.

“I saw on the news a panther escaped from the zoo and got into the museum,” He explained and then took a closer look at his daughter’s torn clothing, “It didn’t hurt you did it?”

“What? No Dad I was just knocked down when the alarm went off. I might have a few bruises, but I’m ok.”

The lie came surprisingly easy to her causing a wave of guilt, but Ruby pushed it down because she still wasn’t sure she herself believed what happened. The only thing convincing her that she hadn’t been knocked down and hit her head were the business cards in her pocket.

“Why didn’t you answer your phone then? I didn’t know what to think,” He pressed.

“Sorry. I turned it on vibrate to stay quiet in the museum and didn’t think to look at it once I got out.”

Technically not a lie, but Ruby still felt bad for making her dad worry.

“Alright. I’m glad you’re safe. I’ll have dinner ready soon,” Tai said giving her a smaller hug.

“Thanks Dad,” Ruby replied

Pulling out of the hug she squeezed past him into their home. She gave Zwei a quick pat hello and climbed the stairs at the right side of the living room. At the top a quick walk down the hallway and she went into her room.

Inside the walls were covered with various pictures of family, friends, some engineering stuff, and posters of her favorite stories. In one corner were shelves packed with books the top of them being comic books and the bottom the regular kind. Another corner was her bed and in front of the window sat a long desk that was part engineering workshop and part writing station.

She sat down at the writing half of her desk and pulled out the two cards. One was blue and said “forget” while the other was green and said “understand”. Both had an address and nothing more.

Firing up her computer she typed the address of the blue card into a map program. What it showed was a regular office building in Vale the only information about it was that it was owned by Wizard’s Glass. Looking them up Ruby found that they were a large umbrella company that owned numerous businesses including the therapist center inside the office building.

Ruby wasn’t sure what to make of being sent to a therapist so she decided to leave it for now. Looking up the address on the green card would be better than dwelling on something like that.

The address on this one was a lighthouse on the northern outskirts of the town. What was strange about this was that the city owned it but was declared unsafe for the public due to disrepair. Checking the card again Ruby was sure this was the right place, but maybe it made sense some kind of monster hunter lived in an abandoned lighthouse.

And that was just it, hunting monsters. She’d been avoiding thinking about it since she left, but looking at the cards and their addresses brought the choice and her experience crashing down on her.

The whole thing was impossible, there’s no way monsters were real or that an old man in a suit hunted them. She must have hit her head when escaping the museum. She hit her head and one of her stories became a dream, a dream that replaced her memory of running away. Right.

But what about the cards? Those were real, she hadn’t dreamed those up too unless she was still unconscious. That way lied meta existential crisis though so definitely awake. So it was real.

That only left the question of where to go tomorrow.

* * *

The next day Ruby adjusted her pack while walking up the path to the lighthouse. She’d taken a can of bear spray from their camping gear for whatever protection it would offer and left early in the morning leaving a note she had went into Vale to look at different businesses and who might be hiring.

The old road saw little use these days judging from the weeds overgrowing it and tree branches reaching inwards. It made for an eerie path but that might be the idea Ruby mused. Excited to see where monster hunters lived she picked up her pace.

Coming around a final corner she saw the lighthouse itself, a large building with an even larger tower. Both were in states of disrepair, but in front of it stood Ozpin seemingly expecting her.

“Ms. Rose it’s good to see you have decided to come,” He called.

“Well you know it’s hard to turn down the opportunity to hunt monsters right?” Ruby ducked under a bar blocking the road and closed the last of the distance between them, “So is there a secret hideout in the tower?”

“Not quite. We make due with what we have Ms. Rose and I will admit it being less than glamorous. If you follow me I can explain more inside.”

Ruby was a little disappointed that the tower wasn’t also a base but she eagerly followed Ozpin into the building.

Inside a large room greeted her with large arches, a second story balcony, and grand windows covered by elaborate but dusty curtains.

“The lighthouse used to double as a hotel before we acquired it,” Ozpin explained without turning around, “This room used to be our main hub of operations but now is only used in ceremony. We have not had reason to do so for a long time though.”

Reaching the far wall Ozpin pulled aside a curtain revealing a door which he also opened and gestured Ruby inside.

This new room was very different from the last. Whereas the lighthouse lobby was old, grand, and unused this new one was barely larger than a closet and had all the feeling of a hospital hallway. The walls were white and only a handleless door, a one way mirror, and a camera adorned the walls. The only thing of interest was a glass tank filled with water and a multicolored striped ball the size of an apple.

Ozpin picked up the ball and showed it to the camera before handing it to Ruby.

“What’s this?” She asked taking it.

“A security measure. The orb contains many of the substances harmful to the supernatural, if either of us were to show a reaction the room would lock and we’d be detained. While there is no way to completely eliminate the threat of infiltration we take what measures we can.”

The door opened into a staircase lit only by lightbulbs strung along a wire attached to a wall. Once more Ruby followed Ozpin into a new environment after replacing the orb. This door led to a long and winding tunnel. The short ceiling and tight walls made her claustrophobic so she did her best to only focus on the back of Ozpin.

After minutes of staring at a green suit and listening to the echoing of a cane Ruby thought there might not even be an end to this underground dungeon, but finally another door appeared leading into what seemed like a large warehouse. Bright lights shined down from a ceiling two stories high and sections were squared away on the edges by fabricated walls, in between them many people rushed to and fro.

It wasn’t what she expected of a secret base with how everything seemed temporary yet worn down. Catching sight of a sword Ruby looked for more of the items that were carried through the underground warehouse, suitcases, firearms, and antiques all passed hands.

Ozpin didn’t pay any mind to the bustle around them heading straight to a staircase leading to an office overhanging the rest of the facility.

Inside the office was a familiar head of blonde hair.

“Yang?!” Ruby asked incredulously.

“Hey Rubes.”

Yang leaned easily against a filing cabinet with Pyrrha standing next to her looking somewhat apprehensive. Ruby had thought she had been prepared for whatever might be here but her sister had not been among her fantasies of hunting monsters.

“What are you doing here? I thought you and Pyrrha were personal trainers.”

“That is what their cover jobs are,” Ozpin said taking a seat behind his ornate desk, “Your sister works for Beacon because of an incident when she was younger. She encountered the supernatural and we helped her through it, she then decided to follow up with us and here we are. You may take a seat as well Miss Rose.”

Looking from him to Yang she sat in the surprisingly worn chair. To hear Yang had been through who knows what and kept it to herself for so long hurt. She’d have to ask her about it later and why she had never talked about it.

“What about you Rubes? What are you doing here?” Yang asked.

Ruby fidgeted in her seat, “Well there was this monster at the museum and I-”

Yang held out her hand and wore a face more serious than Ruby had ever seen, “No I mean why’d you choose to come here?”

“It feels right,” Ruby said after giving it a moment's thought.

“It feels right?” Yang did not sound convinced

“Yang you know I’ve been trying and trying to find myself for months. And this feels right, this feels like me. I can protect people from something they have no way of beating. That’s who I’m meant to be.”

Yang continued holding her gaze a few more seconds before turning to Ozpin. A silent conversation passed between them ending in Yang huffing and turning to face the window.

“You have a certain strength of character not unlike your sister,” Ozpin placed a small object and slid it over to Ruby.

“Welcome to Beacon.”


	3. Chapter 3

“There are a few more things to put in order before you can start, but your sister and I can handle them while Ms. Nikos shows you around.” Ozpin said, pulling out a pile of papers.

Ruby looked at the amount of sheets in the stack and with some apprehension asked, “What kind of things?”

“Boring things Ruby,” Yang said, “Birthday, schooling, recommendations, that kind of stuff. We’ll let you look it over when we’re done. You’d probably rather want to see how the magic happens with Pyrrha anyways.”

She felt like Yang was keeping something from her again, but decided to let it slide for now and add it to what she’d ask later. She gave a quick nod getting up from her seat and following Pyrrha back out of the office.

The cavernous room was still bustling as it had before. Pyrrha motioned to follow her back down the stairs, quickly walking down them and to a nearby room.

“If you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask,” She said stopping in front of the door.

Ruby had plenty of questions. How did no one know about monsters? Could she get one of those cool swords? What was it that Yang had run into? Ever since yesterday her mind had been a whirlwind where the only reprieve she experienced was an exhaust induced sleep. There were too many to pick from so she chose the one right in front of her.

“Who’s this?” She asked pointing to the name on the door: Glynda Goodwitch.

Pyrrha opened the door, “I believe you should meet her yourself.”

This office was as immaculate as Ozpin’s if somewhat more cramped with filing cabinets and shelves of various archaic looking objects lining each wall. Behind the desk sat a blonde haired woman typing away at a computer. Seeing them come in she gestured for them to sit and shook Ruby’s hand from across the desk.

“You must be Ruby Rose,” she said continuing to type away at the computer, “I am Glynda Goodwitch. I oversee Beacon’s public relations and magical resources. If you need either of these you may call me.”

Ozpin had been kindly but seemed to know more than he let on, a welcoming man like an uncle or grandpa would be. Glynda in contrast was full on business from her tone alone, and her quick explanation added more to that image.

Ruby shifted in her seat, “I thought you were supposed to remain secret, why would you need public relations?”

Pyrrha took the chance to explain, “What she means is she helps keep our organization a secret and able to run. Cover jobs, access to official resources, handling anyone that encounters the supernatural and making sure they have all they require.”

“But just how do you keep it a secret?”

“There is a lot that goes into it,” Glynda said, “but the most important fact is the supernatural are so rare that anyone we cannot convince of keeping it to themselves is not taken seriously.”

Glynda hummed and turned her computer monitor around to show the website of an editing company.

“While you are here I’d like to begin on your cover job Ms. Rose. While you work for us it is important that you can explain where you are during the day and where you receive your income.Your sister said you have an interest in writing, perhaps a job as an editor would fit.”

“I, um. I guess.” Ruby fidgeted even further being unprepared for the change of topic. “What would I have to do? Because I really struggle with stuff like run on sentences.”

“You won’t have to do anything. Only know enough about the field to convince anyone that asks about it.” Glynda scrolled down the website until there was an address. “If you find this agreeable this will be the building you enter through. We will supply you with an ID badge as well.”

“Well I can do that,” Ruby said.

Quickly Glynda stood up from her seat and held out her hand. Ruby was surprised. Did she have the job? What did she have to do to keep things a secret? How was she supposed to act? After a second of awkward silence Pyrrha coughed and Ruby’s hand shot forward to shake Glynda’s. The three of them exchanged goodbyes and Pyrrha took the smaller girl off to their next stop. Their destination this time excited Ruby far more with the sign saying “armory”.

It was the largest section of the facility and inside it was packed with all sorts of different weapons. On some racks were swords and axes, others firearms of varying varieties, and on others were objects that she had no name for. Ruby’s eyes dashed from rack to rack trying to look at all of them.

Pyrrha navigated between racks with a practiced ease until they came across a large man working on a rifle. “Mr. Port I’ve brought Ruby Rose to see the armory.”

Port got up from his project, turned around, and regarded the two of them over his bushy mustache, “Pyrrha, I’ve told you before we aren’t nearly as formal here at Beacon compared to somewhere like Atlas. Call me Peter or you’ll make me feel old!”

Ruby had to suppress a laugh looking at his white hair. Already Peter felt easier to be around than anyone else she met today. And to top it off she might finally be able to learn about killing monsters.

“And you must be Ruby, I had been told to expect you. Follow me ladies.” Peter took off at a speed that didn’t seem possible for his size without waiting for a response. “There are many creatures we fight Ruby, so we must have many means of handling them. Not everything will fall to blade or bullet, but most will and I am here to supply you with what you need. Iron, gold, silver, bullets, blades, and everything in between can be found here. Most of our members will gravitate towards one weapon or another over time, but for now you may use this.”

Peter came to a stop at a table where a long case rested. He opened it showing a spear and shield inside, her spear and shield.

“How did you get this?” Ruby asked marveling at the weapon’s shine and designs now that she didn’t have a Grimm attacking her. It was beautifully crafted.

“Old Ozpin had taken it as evidence from the museum. He believes you would like to have it, at least until you can have a more permanent weapon of your choice,” Peter pulled a pistol from underneath the table and set it on the counter top, “And this is your sidearm. Complete with all kinds of bullets available for you to choose. When you meet him, I’m sure Barty will talk your ear off about which to use.” 

Ruby looked incredulously at the massive pistol and the spear, “You’re just giving me these?” 

“Well normally we’d have you complete a course before we gave you the gun, but your sister assured us you took the same course she did years ago. No need to retread old ground I always say.”

“Woah, thanks. What else is in here?” Ruby asked.

Pyrrha smiled as she closed the case. “Thank you Peter. I’m sorry Ruby, but we actually have one more person to visit and Doctor Oobleck hates waiting. Could you put this in Ruby’s new locker Peter?”

“Of course my dear! Old Barty is going to chew your ear off if you take any longer, and most likely will anyways.”

Once again Ruby was practically dragged from the room to their next destination. The constant intake of new information, some of it world changing, began to catch up to her. The room started to spin slightly before she spoke up.

“Pyrrha I know this Oobleck is waiting, but can we take a short break? This whole… thing has me just a little overwhelmed. How do you handle all of this?”

Glancing behind her Pyrrha could see the shorter girl didn’t look one hundred percent. Taking her aside Pyrrha sat the two of them down at a table in what seemed to be set aside for eating meals. “I’m sorry Ruby. And don’t worry about Doctor Oobleck, he’s not expecting us. If I hadn’t said he was Peter would have kept talking and I don’t know which one is worse. I forget most people aren’t raised around these things. After a while it will become the new normal, at least that’s how Yang described it since it was always normal for me.”

Ruby didn’t feel much better knowing Yang had confided in Pyrrha but not herself. She pushed that away though to try to calm herself down. “You said you were raised knowing about monsters?”

“Supernatural,” Pyrrha corrected, “not everything we come across is evil so calling them monsters is incorrect. As for me, my parents were highly skilled huntsmen so they taught me once I was able to understand. I’ve always been a highly skilled agent for Beacon because of it.”

“Wow. You must have had a fun childhood, and are really good at this.”

Pyrrha gave a small sigh. “I suppose so. It was certainly different from the norm.”

They sat together in silence for a few minutes before Ruby stood up saying she was ready to go.


	4. Chapter 4

The inside of Oobleck’s workspace was a library. Shelves upon shelves of books were illuminated by bright lights hanging from the ceiling, and desks covered in more books and papers lay scattered in between the rows of shelves.

Around a final corner was a man with green hair and unkempt clothes pouring over a pile of papers. As soon as they entered his field of view he popped up.

“Pyrrha! I assume this is Ruby Rose, then? It is good to meet you, young lady. I am Doctor Oobleck. If I may, can I have your phone?”

Ruby reached protectively over the pocket her phone was in, “What do you want it for?”

“I apologize for any discomfort,” Oobleck said at his breakneck pace, “I only wish to give it an update to the systems we use.” 

After a nod from Pyrrha, Ruby gave him her phone. Oobleck rushed over to a different desk and plugged it into a computer. 

“A few moments and your phone will have access to most of our database. Within it you shall find rudimentary spells, history, a bestiary, and more files regarding the supernatural. That is what I do here by the way, I manage our collective knowledge.”

“You keep saying supernatural, and Pyrrha said there were more than just monsters. I’ve only seen a Grimm. What else is there?” Ruby asked.

Oobleck zipped to one of the shelves, pointing at a section of books, “Dozens upon dozens of different forms of creatures not known to the wider world live among us. Banshees, Shapeshifters, Vampires…” 

Oobleck continued to list off creatures that Ruby could not keep track of, pointing at a different book each time. Pyrrha leaned in close to whisper that she didn’t need to remember them all and he’d be done eventually. It was still mind boggling to hear so many existed.

“...there are more of course, but you can learn of them later. The one thing I wish for you to understand from this is that there are two groups of supernatural beings we encounter. The bestial and the intelligent. That is not an observation of their intellect however, instead it regards whether or not they are self aware. A Grimm is bestial, relying on animalistic instincts and has no observable form of sentience. Shapeshifters, on the other hand, are exactly the same as you or I, but also have the ability to change their physical appearance instantly and drastically.”

When he finished, Oobleck stood staring at her unwaveringly. Eventually she guessed he was waiting for some kind of response. 

“I think I understand the difference, but what do we do for either of them?” Ruby took a moment to appreciate her own ability to turn the conversation around.

“What do you believe you should do?”

Ah crap. “Well, I believe that if we find a beast then we can kill it to protect others,” Ruby said very slowly as she tried to think at the same time, “But intelligent creatures can be reasoned with. Shouldn’t we try talking to them?”

A large smile grew on Oobleck’s face, “You are a bright young woman, Ms. Rose. Most of the time, attempting to communicate with the supernatural will be beneficial, even if you cannot come to an agreement. There are exceptions of course, but in doing so you are most likely to save a great deal of effort or even bloodshed. Do you have any more questions for me?”

While the short break had helped, Ruby was still full of questions. She couldn’t pick one she actually wanted to ask, so again asked something that didn’t matter much, “What’s your favorite creature?”

Oobleck’s smile grew even larger, “Bright and considerate of what others think. Ozpin has made a good choice. While I am unable to decide which being of the supernatural I prefer the most, I will say a golem at this time would be highly appreciated. A second set of hands would be invaluable.”

Ruby didn’t know exactly what a golem was, so she simply smiled. Luckily before Oobleck could start again, Pyrrha came to her rescue.

“I think that’s all Ruby has to ask at the moment, Doctor.”

Ruby quickly took the lifeline Pyrrha gave her, “Yeah. I’ve learned a lot today, and I’m not sure I can learn anymore.”

“Of course, of course,” Oobleck agreed going back to his notes, “The pursuit of knowledge can be stopped in its tracks if one takes it in too quickly.”

“Thank you for your time, Doctor,” Pyrrha said, leading Ruby back out of the room.

Ruby took a deep breath once they were in the cavernous room again, “Is he always that…”

“Energetic?” Pyrrha supplied.

“Yeah, that.”

Pyrrha gave a quick laugh. “You’ll get used to it. Come on, I’m sure Yang and Ozpin are done by now.”

Climbing back up the stairs to Ozpin’s office, Ruby could hear muffled voices within. At the door, Pyrrha knocked, and a voice told them to come in.

“Good timing, Miss Nikos. We had just finished a few minutes ago,” Ozpin said from his desk.

Ruby followed Pyrrha as she strode into the room, “We would have been here sooner, but Oobleck wanted to start giving Ruby lessons already.” 

“Bartholomew has his eccentricities, but is good at what he does. You seem to have had a long day already, Miss Rose,” Ozpin said, noting her face, “Perhaps it would be best your sister took you home. You can have tomorrow to yourself, then come through the business Glynda set up as your cover job the next day. Does that sound agreeable?”

Ruby nodded silently, grateful for the relief. She also wanted to get Yang alone to talk to her, so a trip home would be perfect. 

The two of them left the office and went through a different door on one of the outer walls. This tunnel was thankfully large enough that it would allow an entire semi truck through. But despite its large size, their footsteps echoed off the stone floor, and the lights flickered giving off a slight feeling of dread.

Normally, just being by Yang would quell any fear Ruby had, but after learning she had kept so much from her things were different. There was a distance between the two of them. An unease that refused to go away. It was something Ruby hated and wanted to end, so she took the direct approach.

“Yang why didn’t you want me to join Beacon?”

Yang gave a large sigh, but kept walking, “Being a huntress is dangerous Ruby. There’s a lot that can go wrong that you don’t know about. I didn’t want you to live this kind of life. Still don’t, but I know if both Ozpin, and more importantly you, want this then the best I can do is be there for you.”

“But you’ve done this for years Yang. You’ve fought the supernatural yourself. And you didn’t tell me,” Ruby said the last part quietly, but the echo of the walls made it all too loud.

“That’s different. I couldn’t get out once I was pulled into this, Ruby. And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to go racing into danger like I knew you would. You always were like that you know? It’s one of the best and worst things about you.”

“Yang I’m not going to throw my life away. I just want to help people and do what I feel is right.”

Yang wrapped Ruby into a big hug, “You better not. I want you around for a long time. Just try to stick close to me and Pyrrha, ok?”

“I promise, Yang.”


	5. Chapter 5

Reaching an underground garage, Ruby could see multiple rows of vehicles. Most of them seemed run down, or at least were on the older end.

Yang walked up to a large red truck with room for four and a covered bed. Like the rest down here it was at least fifteen years old and covered in dents. She unlocked the doors and made a grand gesture.

“I present to you our very own company car.”

“That’s ours?”

“She might not seem like much, but Milo has always done what we’ve asked of her. Even with Pyrrha’s driving.”

Ruby gave the truck a sidelong glance, unconvinced, “It’s just, it doesn’t seem like something a secret organization would use.”

Yang held up a finger, “Firstly, that makes it perfect for us.” She then put up another finger, “Second, Beacon doesn’t make that much. We can’t exactly charge anyone for what we do because of the secrecy thing. Some people donate when we save them though. That’s where most of our money comes from actually; rich people we saved from a cursed object they bought.”

Satisfied with the answer, Ruby hopped in the passenger seat while Yang turned the key. Milo started on the first try despite what Ruby expected. Slowly they trundled out of the underground garage into the streets of Vale. The secret entrance from the outside looked like an ordinary parking garage that required a special permit to use, which Ruby supposed was technically true.

The ride to Vale was spent in a tired silence. Both sisters were too mentally drained to truly start a conversation, so instead they turned on the radio and let the music fill the quiet truck.

Yang navigated out of the congested streets of Vale, onto a highway that took them to Patch twenty minutes down the road. After they reached the town limits it only took five minutes to drive to their home and park in the driveway. Yang used her spare key to unlock the door, then threw it open to stroll inside while loudly announcing their return..

“We’re home, Dad! Did you miss me?”

Tai came out of the kitchen with a big grin on his face, “Yang! Of course I miss my eldest daughter who ran off to the big city with her girlfriend. Most days I’m beside myself with the feeling of insurmountable loss.”

“Yeah, yeah. Play it up,” Yang gave him a big hug, “I know you wanted to kick me out so you can do your old man things in peace. And that you were waiting for Ruby to go, too. Speaking of, she has some good news for you.”

Ruby felt a small amount of shame when Yang said Tai wanted her to move out. She knew Yang was only teasing and hadn’t meant anything by it, but being reminded of taking so long to find what she wanted wasn’t pleasant.

That shame was quickly washed away when Ruby processed what Yang had said next. She did have a job and it was a damn good one. It was just one she couldn’t tell her dad. She could tell that it might be difficult to always keep a secret.

“I went to Vale today for an interview and got a job as an editor.” This time the lie wasn’t difficult, a fact that continued to disturb her.

Tai gave Ruby a hug twice as big as Yang’s, “That’s great, Ruby. Why didn’t you tell me you were working on that?”

Ruby was glad her face was hidden by the hug. She didn’t know what to say that was believable. People didn’t just have jobs fall in their laps without working for them.

“She wanted to keep it a surprise,” Yang said, “Ruby told me on the way over. She took online classes and wanted to keep it to herself until she got it. When she called me I picked her up. What do you think Dad? Should we make her favorite dinner?”

“Lasagna? I think we can make that tonight. That is if Yang doesn't mess it up again and we need a new oven.”

“That was only the first time!” Yang protested.

Yang and Tai continued bantering through cooking and dinner. Ruby was content to sit back and enjoy their style of teasing. The normalcy of it was a relief from the past two days.

They talked late into the night about anything and everything. Tai offered Yang her old room for the night, saying it hadn’t been touched after she moved. Yang had to decline however, claiming she hadn’t brought her pills with her. Sometime after eleven Yang gave her farewells, jokingly promising to call her old man more. Once she pulled out of the driveway Ruby went to bed herself.

* * *

That night however, Ruby slept fitfully. Dreams of different supernatural beings flit through her mind, only half remembered when she woke. It was five in the morning by the time she decided she wouldn’t get anymore useful sleep.

Sitting up in bed, she opened her phone and went to the Beacon app. Yang had shown her the password, and how to use it while their dad was at the store, picking up ingredients the night before. Ruby navigated to the bestiary and started reading whatever looked interesting.

She found things she never would have thought of. There were werewolves, which were technically called lycanthropes and had multiple subsets, yetis, even dragons. More than that, the ways to beat them were incredible. Most curses had a loophole that could be used. For instance, vampires needed to be stabbed in the heart with silver, or even decapitated.. The myths about wooden stakes and garlic came from country folk believing decaying corpses were vampires.

Before she knew it, the sun was in the sky and the sounds of the world moving could be heard through her window. Looking at the clock revealed it was already ten. Ruby wasn’t too surprised, knowing how a good book or something else could catch her attention for hours and she’d lose a lot of her day.

Putting her phone down and dressing for the day, Ruby went downstairs to the kitchen. She counted herself lucky when she saw her dad cooking eggs on the stove.

“Morning, sleepy head. Enjoying one last chance to sleep in before joining the real world?” Tai asked.

Ruby sat on one of the stools after grabbing two plates for them, “More like reading one more book.”

“As long as you’re ready for tomorrow that’s fine,” Tai served them both equal portions and put the pan in the sink, “That reminds me though. Stay here, I have something for you.”

Tai ran upstairs and came back down holding something in his hand.

“I went to Old Miss Calavera down the street this morning. She couldn’t get the stains completely out of it,” Tai held out a red scarf to Ruby, “Apparently, not even she’s that good with cloth. But she did the next best thing and dyed it.”

With a slightly shaky hand, she reached out to grab the red scarf. “Is this...?”

“It is. It was the only thing of your mom’s that they found, other than the, the blood...” Tai trailed off for a minute before swallowing, “I held onto it for all these years because I couldn’t let go, not really. But I think you need it more. I already have the best thing to remember Summer by- you. I thought it might bring you some peace or comfort now that you’re starting to become more independent.”

Ruby enveloped her dad in a big hug, “Thanks, Dad. I love it!”


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby walked into the office building. It was the one she’d been told held an entrance to the tunnels leading to Beacon underneath it. The lobby was a warm assortment of colors, complete with tables and comfortable looking seats placed within.

She was excited to be starting today. She’d fidgeted in her bus seat for the entire ride into Vale. But half of that came from being nervous by Ruby’s guess. She’d had trouble sleeping last night as well, no matter how hard she tried she’d slept fitfully. 

Ruby took a deep breath and approached the front desk. Behind it was a woman with long brown hair who looked rather bored. She tapped a pencil to a beat only known to her, while staring at a spot on the wall. It was only when a large man standing off to the side coughed meaningfully that she noticed Ruby.

“Sorry, I hadn’t noticed you. Welcome to Wizard Writing. Is there anything I can help you with?” She asked.

“I’m Ruby Rose. I’m here for my job,” Ruby mentally chided herself. How would she know if she was part of Beacon or someone who got lost? “I mean I know Ozpin and all the, you know, stuff. All the Beacon stuff.”

Ruby had to fight from hiding her face in her hands. That was the worst introduction she could have done.

“Yes I know all about the Beacon stuff. I’m Velvet by the way.” The receptionist said with a small laugh, “Yatsu and I were told you’d be coming by this morning. Let me grab the sphere and you can go in through the elevator on your right.”

Velvet opened a drawer and put on a pair of thick, elbow length gloves. Opening another drawer she pulled out a striped sphere identical to the one before, and gave it to Ruby.

“Why do you need the gloves?” Ruby asked.

Yatsuhashi started to move, but Velvet waved him back, “It’s fine Yatsu. She doesn’t know, and you weren’t too different in the past. I’m a changeling, Ruby.”

Before Ruby’s eyes a pair of rabbit ears grew on Velvet’s head. It was a surreal experience, and Ruby had to stop herself from making any kind of rude reaction.

“Changelings usually aren’t that welcome, especially when most of us like to have some part of us something other than human when we can,” Velvet’s ears twitched, “But Beacon can use someone who can change into anyone else. Well, they could if I wasn’t hiding a broken ankle under this desk.”

“You’ll heal quickly, Velvet,” Yatsuhashi said, “You weren’t hit by silver like there is in the sphere, so you’ll be fine.”

Velvet breathed out a large sigh, “I know Yatsu, it’s just boring that we’re stuck here. Sorry Ruby, we didn’t mean to keep you waiting. You can head down and start. Welcome to Beacon.”

Ruby felt a wave of relief wash over her when she stepped into the elevator. She pushed the down button and waved as the door closed. She was glad Velvet was kind, Ruby didn’t know what she’d do if she made a misstep and actually offended her. She’d have to get used to things like that happening, especially if she worked alongside anyone that had something supernatural about them. 

After a minute the elevator reached the bottom. A quick walk through a tunnel, that was shorter than the one Ozpin had taken her through, and she was back in Beacon’s headquarters. Almost as soon as she entered the room, Yang came over and put an arm around her shoulders.

“Hey Rubes! I hope you slept well, because they found us a ghost to bust. Something nice and easy to start out.”

Ruby’s eyes lit up, “Where is the ghost? Is it haunting a burial site that is being developed? Or maybe, it’s in an old house that a young couple bought.”

“Easy there little sis,” Yang started to guide her through the scattered gatherings of people, “First off it’s in an old mine. You remember Rockbrook a few miles from Vale? And how it’s supposedly haunted by the ghosts of the gold rush?”

Ruby nodded. Rockbrook was mostly a tourist attraction. It had some history about the frontiersmen, but the history ended up overshadowed by gift shops and ghost tours constantly talking about supposed sightings that no one could confirm.

“As it turns out, it actually is haunted. Something made one of the ghosts angry, and now it’s lashing out.” Yang opened the door to the armory and led Ruby inside.

“Has it hurt anyone?” Ruby asked, concern etched onto her face.

Yang’s smile faded, replaced by a somber image, “Yeah. We usually don’t know anything is wrong until something actually does go wrong. Luckily the worst someone got here was a concussion.”

Ruby felt a wave of determination come over her. She wouldn’t let anyone else get hurt, not if she could do anything about it. “How do we take care of it?”

“Pyrrha and I are going to load up the truck,” Yang said with a grin, “You’re going to talk to Peter and learn a little about ghosts.”

“She’ll do more than learn a little!” Port boomed.

Ruby jumped at the sudden noise. She had no idea how he walked up behind them so quietly. Maybe it was something that came naturally to older huntsmen. Port began explaining his experience with ghosts. While he did, Ruby couldn’t help but notice how Yang snuck away.

“A ghost is a perfect first target. I remember the first time I tangled with one. Nothing I could do would touch it, until I used a frying pan from the nearby kitchen. You see, it was made of pure iron, the only non magical substance that can touch a spectre. As such you’ll have an iron bar in the supplies your partners are collecting.”

Ruby was taken aback by how much Port said and how quickly he did it. But she wasn’t going to back down. She was going to make a good first impression. “I read a little about ghosts yesterday, Peter. Doesn’t salt hurt them too?”

“Correct! When salt is thrown at a spirit, they temporarily disperse, usually for no more than a minute. You can also use it to make a line which the ghost cannot pass themself, but they can use their innate abilities to break the line. But most importantly is you have to find a way to put it to rest. Sometimes you can convince it to move on. Other times you must burn whatever is tying it to our world, usually its corpse, but sometimes an object of importance to them.”

“Hey Ruby. We got started before you came in, so we’re ready to go now,” Yang called.

“Thanks Peter,” Ruby said with a small nod of her head. She was starting to understand why Pyrrha and Yang didn’t want to talk to him very much. You could ask him a simple question and his answer would be three times as long as it needed to be.

“Anytime, my dear. Whenever you need the advice of an old master, come to me.”

Ruby left the armory, following Yang into the garage. Pyrrha was already there, with the truck running. The three of them climbed in and began driving towards Rockbrook. 

“Have you two ever-” Ruby let out a grunt when Pyrrha stepped on the gas.

“Dealt with a ghost?” Yang guessed from her front seat. Ruby could see that she was already holding onto the door handle with a white knuckle grip, “Plenty of- fuck! Plenty of times. Pyrrha, didn’t we talk about this already?”

“Sorry Yang. This is just how I drive, I don’t know how to change it.” Pyrrha’s face remained unnervingly calm as she moved into an incredibly tight spot in the next lane.

Ruby had been planning to ask more about the ghost, but it became extremely apparent Yang hadn’t been joking about Pyrrha’s driving. She wove in between cars, nudged into places seemingly impossible to get squeezed into, and did it all faster than Ruby had ever driven. Ruby was too terrified to ask anything more. The only thing that made her feel better is that she could tell Yang wasn’t enjoying herself either.

When they reached Rockbrook, Ruby walked out of the truck on shaky legs. The town consisted of one main road with all of the tourist attractions, and smaller streets branching out containing markets and houses.

“So where do we start looking for this ghost?” Ruby asked.

“You’re looking for The Miner too?” An unknown voice responded.

Ruby cursed herself for saying something like that in the open, before turning around. The woman that had asked the question was rather… purple. She wore blue jeans, but her shirt, shoes, and even hair were all a shade of purple.

“Hi, I’m Psiah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this being my first update since uploading to AO3, I think it would be a good idea to say now that from now on, all author's notes will be on the FFN version and AO3 will be notes free from now on. As one last word here, I hope you enjoy


	7. Chapter 7

“Hi, I’m Psiah.”

Pyrrha quickly came around the truck, “Hello, Psiah. I’m Pyrrha, this is Ruby and her sister, Yang. What’s this about a miner?”

Ruby sighed in relief. She supposed this is why she was paired up with people that knew more than she did. She shuffled slightly back so that Pyrrha could take the lead in talking to Psiah.

“Not a miner, The Miner,” Psiah clarified with a cheery smile and shake of her head, “That is why you’re here right? To hunt his ghost, now that he’s become more active?”

Yang offered her hand which Psiah shook enthusiastically, “Of course. Pyrrha and I are really into it, and we’re teaching Ruby. Want to team up?”

“Sure! But do try to keep up. I can get enthusiastic, and I don't like to wait.” Psiah replied.

“Great! Just let us grab our bags.” Without waiting Yang walked back to the trunk of the truck and started pulling out their packs. After a second Pyrrha and Ruby followed her.

“Yang, you know we shouldn’t let anyone not in the know join us,” Pyrrha said under her breath.

Ruby thought it was strange Yang had invited Psiah. From what Goodwitch had told her, they were supposed to keep people from learning about the supernatural, even if they were looking for it.

“Relax Pyrrha. We won’t let her see the good stuff. We’ll just keep her around to learn about this Miner. Ghost hunters love to do their research, and I’m sure Psiah will be all too eager to share with us. She’s done our job for us.”

Yang handed Ruby and Pyrrha their packs before grabbing her own. Pyrrha still looked unconvinced but didn’t say anything more. They returned to Psiah who was fiddling with a small video camera. 

Psiah suggested they start by visiting the old home of one of the people who had lived here. Jacob Sarth was who her research indicated who the Miner was in life. And she’d already been on her way to the house before the three of them showed up.

As they were walking, Ruby thought of what Oobleck had told her, to try to learn what you can about the creature you are looking for. “Psiah, how did you start ghost hunting?” She asked. 

Maybe it wasn’t very direct, but she didn’t want to ask too pointed of questions. If she got too specific then Psiah might become weirded out and leave them.

"My ex-girlfriend." Psiah chuckled. "People always called her a witch. But I definitely picked up some useful things that she taught me."

“What kind of things?”

“Oh a bit of this and a bit of that. I learned about Jacob Sarth with something she taught me: Always check the town records. Some of them might be poorly kept, but this one was fairly intact.” Psiah pulled out her phone and began tapping away, “One second, I have notes on him somewhere. Ah! Here we go. He came to the frontier looking to be far away from as many people as he could without completely leaving civilization.”

Ruby could understand wanting to get away sometimes, but not moving across the county. “What did he do out here?”

“He didn’t seem to have many skills, so he worked in the mines. Probably a bad idea, seeing as it killed him. A mine collapse sealed him and three others in a shaft without a way out. Probably starved to death. Not a good way to go”

They arrived at Jacob’s house. It wasn’t very large, rather squat in fact. Psiah gestured for them to go in first while she set up her camera. Inside only consisted of a single room which had a kitchen, bed, and table situated in different corners. A few different personal effects of Jacob’s were underneath glass displays that must have been installed in recent years.

“So, what are we looking for?” Ruby asked.

“That’s the problem Rubes, we don’t know,” Yang was looking at an old knife under a display while she explained, “Everything or nothing in here could be important in finding Jacob. We really have no way of knowing until it jumps at us. Which I gotta say can be really annoying.”

“You just want to get to the fighting.” Pyrrha said. She was looking through the small cupboards in the kitchen, seeming to search for anything hidden. 

Yang snorted, “Hey, it’s not all fighting. You might be a champ at beating these guys in five different ways, and I’m a close second, but I actually do like to apply myself whenever we need to take a more academic approach.”

“Got it!” Psiah waved her camera as she rushed in through the door.

As she did, the temperature in the room dropped rapidly. It was enough that Ruby could see her breath, and frost covered the displays. Pyrrha and Yang dropped their packs and pulled out their iron bars. After some difficulty finding it, Ruby did the same.

“Begone!” An ethereal voice boomed.

“Ruby, come over here. Psiah, get behind us.” Yang said.

Ruby was surprised at Yang’s tone. It was much more commanding than she’d heard before, even more than when she would tell Ruby to do something she’d been avoiding for as long as possible.

“Leave my home meddlers!”

Pyrrha took a combat stance, “Not until we lay you to rest, Jacob. We can help you.” 

Her readiness saved her from a ghostly pickaxe swinging for her head. Pyrrha rolled beneath it and swung at the ghost’s now visible feet.

Jacob fell to the ground, and then through it. Household items began flying, pelting Yang and Pyrrha. He rose back through the floor and brought his pick up in a savage swing.

Ruby parried it with her iron bar, but fell back. The ghost packed a much weightier punch than she was expecting out of something incorporeal. 

Jacob lifted his pickaxe to bring it down on Ruby as she lay on the ground. She scrambled and brought her bar in front of her.

As he swung down a spray of salt flew through his body, and suddenly he was gone in a haze.

“What’s going on in there?” Outside a window stood a woman in a tour guide uniform. The three of them quickly stowed their iron bars, before the woman came through the door.

“No one is supposed to be in here. The exhibits are closed until we know they’re safe again. I know you like your ghost hunting, but the four of you need to leave now.”

“Sorry ma’am, we’ll be leaving,” Psiah made an exaggerated curtsy. She took Ruby and Pyrrha’s hands, leading them out of the house. Yang followed behind closely.

Once they were a fair distance away, Yang turned towards Psiah, “How did you know to throw salt at the ghost? And that it was in our packs?”

“I knew you were huntresses when you rolled into town. The wards on your truck may as well be a giant neon sign. They’ll keep a lot of things out, but they sure aren’t subtle.” 

Pyrrha began reaching for her pack again, “That doesn’t answer her question.”

Psiah made some gestures with her hands, and a pointy hat appeared on her head, “I did tell you my ex was a witch.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been told it's easier to respond to comments on AO3, and that folks can be more talkative over here. Because of that I'm going to have author's notes on both sites. If you prefer not to read them, that's fine, just check out at the end.
> 
> Psiah and wordplay, name a better duo. I'm hoping she comes across pretty well, she should since Psiah gave this chapter a look and a few (or more) nudges here and there. Personally I found her fun to write, if a bit strange because of her being a person instead of a character.
> 
> I also tried to flesh out Yang and Pyrrha a bit more. This was more their doing than mine, characters sometimes do that. As you might imagine, Yang is a bit fast and loose while Pyrrha plays straightwoman. But I didn't want to make Pyrrha completely the good cop, so there's a healthy teasing relationship.
> 
> Coming up next, Psiah has some explaining to do. And we still have a murderous ghost on the loose. 


	8. Chapter 8

“You’re a witch?” Yang’s entire body tensed. “What do you want?”

Psiah shook her head, “Always thinking we want something, never that we can do something out of the kindness of our hearts. That’s pretty prejudiced, especially coming from you of all people.”

“Let’s just say we’ve had poor past experiences,” Pyrrha put her hand on Yang’s shoulder, but her other was clenched into a fist.

Ruby moved in between all of them holding her hands to either side in a placating gesture, “Look, I don’t know why everyone’s on edge, but we can work this out.”

“Ruby you don’t understand, she-”

Psiah cut off Yang by throwing a piece of cloth that stuck over Yang’s mouth, “She comes from a group that isn’t all that well liked. And you are a new huntress, so listen up. Here’s your crash course in magic users. There are some that are born in tune with the magic surrounding us, and able to manipulate it without any help. And there are some that achieve their magical ability, because they didn’t start with an ounce of magic in them, and need to use objects or rituals.”

After prying the cloth off Yang took a deep breath, “A witch is somewhere in between. But that isn’t what makes them dangerous. They’re tricky, liars, and always are looking to gain something. So tell us what you want.”

Psiah exaggeratedly sighed, “Well I’m sorry one of my sisters left you bitter, but I’m not her. I don’t know what she did that’s made you so sour, but I’m here to do good. The presence of an undead being, that’s Jacob, is preventing one of my rituals. He’s only kinda dead. I need him to be more dead to complete it.”

“What kind of ritual?” Yang demanded.

“Yang.” Ruby’s voice was firm. Yang was surprised to hear it. It wasn’t harsh or aggressive, but it didn’t leave room for argument. “I want to talk about this later, but right now we should work together. Jacob will keep hurting people and is suffering himself, unless we put him to rest. We can’t let him go on like this. And if we need to, we can stop Psiah after that.”

Psiah snorted, “Funny that you think you can stop me. Hilarious even. But don’t worry you won’t need to. This ritual is actually pretty nice. Nothing like your friend is getting worked over. But I could do that too, if you were to try and ‘stop’ me.”

Pyrrha moved to put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder now, “She’s right. We should be working together instead of fighting.” Her eyes pointedly moved between Yang and Psiah.

“Fine I’ll play nice,” Psiah said, “But only because you’re cute.” Psiah punctuated this with a wink, “Let’s take this to my hotel room. It’s a little less conspicuous and I don’t need to keep using a spell for people to ignore us.”

There weren’t many people on the street, but all of them were pointedly looking anywhere except where the four girls stood. Ruby hadn’t noticed it before, but the air around them had a strange quality to it that she couldn’t quite place.

“Alright, we can work together,” Yang stepped into Psiah’s face so that their faces were inches from each other, “But we will be watching you.”

Psiah grinned, blowing Yang a playful kiss. “It’s nice to know someone likes to give me that much attention.”

Yang’s face remained deadpan. She scoffed as Psiah turned and led the way.

The walk to Psiah’s hotel room was quick, but full of tension. Yang stayed in the back of the group, eyes glued to Psiah’s back. Pyrrha was equally on edge, scanning the streets as they walked. Ruby didn’t want to assume the worst from Psiah, but her friends being so on edge made it difficult.

Psiah’s hotel room wasn’t what Ruby was expecting. From how Pyrrha and Yang were acting, she was anticipating cursed objects and black magic ingredients everywhere, but it was a normal hotel room. The only object of note was a pile of papers that covered the desk.

Psiah leaned back against the desk and picked up one of the papers, “Now that we’re somewhere a little more private, I have a plan.”

“Are you going to keep being cryptic, or tell us what it is?” Yang pressed.

“Fine, just suck all the fun out of it, why don’t you? We need to burn Sarth’s remains. To do that we need to find his body in those caves. And to do that, I need you to steal something of his from his house. With that it’s a simple spell to guide us to its owner. And for the record, my way of explaining would be more fun, Ms. Killjoy.”

Ruby shifted her weight from foot to foot, “You want us to steal?” 

“I prefer borrow,” Psiah said, “I don’t need it after we find Jacob, so we can give it back.”

Ruby was starting to see Yang’s point. She might have been willing to do it if her sister or Pyrrha had proposed it, but Psiah was someone they just met. Asking that much so soon was very off putting.

Yang scoffed, “And why don’t you just do it? If you have all this magic at your disposal, why do you need us?”

“Jacob freaked out when I specifically entered the house. I might have a magical doodad on me that set him off, or maybe he just doesn’t like purple. Those kind of people are weird. And evil. I do know some people that are evil and love purple, but they aren’t that evil, so-”

“Let’s say we agree to this,” Pyrrha interrupted, “Do you swear that you won’t use anything you gain selfishly?”

“Ok, how about this?” Psiah rummaged through her bag, pulling out a small amulet, “I swear I shall not act in any form of selfish or harmful manner while we work to lay Jacob Sarth to his final rest. There, binding oath with my own binding amulet. I don’t know what more I can do to convince you I’m on your side. Friends?”

Ruby looked to both Yang and Pyrrha. Neither of them raised any objections. “Ok, we’ll do it.”

Yang ran a hand through her long hair, “I don’t like this, but I don’t see any better options. It would be best if we waited for night, and if there were only two of us. Pyrrha, do you mind staying here with Psiah, while Ruby and I get what we need?”

“Not at all, Psiah and I can work on how to move through the mines.”

“Alright. Ruby, let’s head back to the truck and figure out how to do this.” Yang waved for Ruby to follow her out the door.

Ruby closed the door behind her as she walked out, “This is a lot different than how I thought this would go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, this is shorter than I'd imagined and I'm not quite happy with it. But I feel it works well with what I wanted to do. That's establish witches, Yang's thoughts on them, and Psiah being a bit more playful.
> 
> Next time should be a bit faster though. Our girls need some way to pull off a heist. Admittedly a low security heist, but still a heist.


	9. Chapter 9

Ruby and Yang were sneaking back to Jacob Sarth’s home. Ruby had called her dad, saying that she was tired after work, and staying the night at Yang’s. The sun had fallen, leaving street lights as the only illumination.

Ruby was thinking about Psiah, and how Yang acted around her. Yang had taken a couple of her pills when they were preparing. They were to keep her emotions from running too wild. She’d normally take them in the morning and evening, but was allowed them once during a stressful day. It was rare for Yang to take them in the middle of the day, her face always scrunched up at the taste.

“Yang, what happened?” She asked.

“I know you’re trying to see the best in people, Ruby. But trust me when I say witches are bad news. Psiah will find a way to bend that oath and get what she wants.”

“I didn’t mean what happened now. What happened that made you so, so hateful of witches?”

They were at the back of Sarth’s house. Yang opened the old door, apparently they hadn’t put a lock on it to preserve its original state. “I’m not ready to talk about it, not fully.”

“Yang…”

Yang took a deep breath before entering the home, “One of them is the reason I’m doing this.” She looked off to the side, her eyes becoming misty. “A witch was the first thing I faced. People got hurt. Bad. Ever since then I’ve been with Beacon.”

Ruby had been working on opening the display case. In the reflection her face was set into a deep frown.

“I don’t want to say anymore, Ruby. Not yet”

Ruby felt terrible for pushing her that far. She stopped opening the case to give Yang a hug, “I wish you had told me, Yang. I’m here whenever you do want to talk about it.”

“Thanks, Ruby,” Yang returned the hug, “I’ll get there, but later. For now we have to get this knife.”

They were able to retrieve Jacob’s knife without incident. The case popped off and his ghost never appeared. With the blade in hand, the sisters snuck back out of the house and returned to Psiah’s room.

“Good you’re back,” Psiah said, “Luckily this spell doesn’t require a virgin sacrifice, so I have everything we need already. Let’s get to the mine.”

“Is a virgin sacrifice really needed for some spells?” Ruby asked.

Psiah laughed, “No, that’s just something done in cheesy movies. But there are a bunch that use blood in different states. Pretty disgusting if you ask me. That’s why I use a blood substitute.”

The mine entrance was on the outskirts of town. No one was awake to see the group of four as they passed. This time Ruby was keeping a close eye on Psiah as well. It didn’t help that she didn’t know what she was looking for, but she understood why Yang did it and was determined to help.

When they finally reached the actual entrance to the mines, it was locked. This proved to be only a momentary setback once Pyrrha brought out a pair of bolt cutters.

“Do you carry those everywhere Pyrrha?” Ruby asked, looking from spot to spot.

Pyrrha opened the gate, “Not always, Yang carries them sometimes. We try to make the packs even.”

“And they’re a lot lighter now that there’s three of us,” Yang noted, “Grab your headlamp, it’s going to be dark in there.”

“Right. Where’s that?”

“Really, Rubes?” Yang fitted her own headlamp over her hair, “Did you even look in your pack?”

“Well, you see...”

“Come on, Ruby,” Pyrrha said while taking the iron bar out of her pack, “It’s time to hunt your first ghost.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, wow that’s short. If I knew it was going to be like that, I’d have split it between the last and next chapter. What happened here was I both combined a scene and took one out. The combined ones were rather weak on their own in my mind, and the one I took out was just not needed. All that said, I’m not happy with the end result.
> 
> But next week I believe I’ll be at the place where I’ll have more fun writing. That is the climax of this arc.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello AO3! I hope you enjoyed that first chapter. I have written and posted the first five chapters and posted them on FFN before coming here, so those will be out immediately. After that I plan to upload a chapter every other week.
> 
> I look forward to any feedback or opinions anyone might have.


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